NEPC Review: Takes a Community (Bellwether Education Partners, February 2018) and Pre-K Teachers and Bachelor's Degrees (New America and Bellwether Education Partners, February 2018)

Reports from Bellwether and New America each review the current state of early childhood education (ECE) teacher preparation programs at the community college and university levels. Both raise awareness about the challenges facing the ECE workforce and educational institutions in dealing with the recent policy push to increase the required educational credentials for pre-K teachers. Specifically, these policies elevate the requirement from the Child Development Associate certificate to an associate&rsquo;s degree or to a bachelor&rsquo;s degree with early childhood specialization. The reports also illustrate innovative practices that some states and colleges are implementing to improve the quality, flexibility, mobility, and diversity of ECE teachers. They end with policy recommendations for states, colleges, and ECE leaders. The methods consist of simple literature reviews (which generally rely on think tank white papers, as opposed to peer-reviewed journal publications). The reports also incorporate informal interviews with ECE stakeholders and leaders, but the methodology and selection procedures used are unclear. Notwithstanding these limitations, the analyses appear sound and the conclusions and recommendations made are generally reasonable, supported by the relatively limited data available. The longer report from Bellwether on the role of community colleges appears useful for policymakers and the public, due to its depth and effectiveness in presentation. The report from New America is too short and rather awkward in presentation, which limits its effectiveness.</p

Negative Affectivity, Authoritarianism, and Anxiety of Infection Explain Early Maladjusted Behavior During the COVID-19 Outbreak

During the first phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, Italy experienced problems of public order and maladjusted behavior. This study assessed the role of negative affectivity, right-wing authoritarianism, and anxiety of COVID-19 infection in explaining a variety of the maladjusted behaviors (i.e., “China-phobic” discrimination, panic buying) observed with an Italian sample. Specifically, we examined the effect of Negative Affectivity and Right-Wing Authoritarianism on maladjusted behaviors, and the moderating role of anxiety of infection. Seven hundred and fifty-seven Italian participants completed an online survey between March 3rd to the 7th 2020, which was immediately before the lockdown. A moderated-mediation model was tested using a structural equation modeling approach. Results indicated that both Negative Affectivity and Right-Wing Authoritarianism were positively associated with COVID-19-related maladjusted behavior, and that Right-Wing Authoritarianism mediated the relationship between Negative Affectivity and maladjusted behavior. Furthermore, the effect of Right-Wing Authoritarianism on maladjusted behavior was greater for those with high anxiety of infection, and the indirect effect of Negative Affectivity on maladjusted behavior through Right-Wing Authoritarianism was moderated by infection anxiety. Findings highlight potential psychological paths that may inform communication strategies and public health initiatives aimed at promoting healthy behavior during an outbreak

The case for measuring and reporting bilingualism in developmental research

Many children around the world grow up bilingual, learning and using two or more languages in everyday life. Currently, however, children’s language backgrounds are not always reported in developmental studies. There is mounting evidence that bilingualism interacts with a wide array of processes including language, cognitive, perceptual, brain, and social development, as well as educational outcomes. As such, bilingualism may be a hidden moderator that obscures developmental patterns, and limits the replicability of developmental research and the efficacy of psychological and educational interventions. Here, we argue that bilingualism and language experience in general should be routinely documented in all studies of infant and child development regardless of the research questions pursued, and provide suggestions for measuring and reporting children’s language exposure, proficiency, and use

Self-Talk: An Interdisciplinary Review and Transdisciplinary Model

The present work synthesises the self-talk literature and constructs a transdisciplinary self-talk model to guide future research across all academic disciplines that engage with self-talk. A comprehensive research review was conducted, including 559 self-talk articles published between 1978 and 2020. These articles were divided into 6 research categories: (a) inner dialogue, (b) mixed spontaneous and goal-directed organic self-talk, (c) goal-directed self-talk, (d) spontaneous self-talk, (e) educational self-talk interventions, and (f) strategic self-talk interventions. Following this, critical details were extracted from a subsample of 100 articles to create an interdisciplinary synthesis of the self-talk literature. Based on the synthesis, a self-talk model was created that places spontaneous and goal-directed organic self-talk as well as educational and strategic self-talk interventions in relation to variables within their nomological network, including external factors (e.g. task difficulty), descriptive states and traits (e.g. emotions), behaviour and performance, metacognition, and psychological skills (e.g. concentration)

Child Care Experiences Among Dual Language Learners in the United States: Analyses of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort

This article uses nationally representative data from the Early Chlidhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort used to examine child care experiences with repreated cross-sectional analysis at 9, 24, and 52 months for dual language learner and non-dual language learner children

Careful what you say to yourself: Exploring self-talk and youth tennis performance via hierarchical linear modeling

Researchers have examined self-talk and performance in tennis matches, but the current understanding of speech-to-performance associations in tennis is hindered by conflicting evidence from self-report and observation, and by the use of relatively simple statistical analyses that fail to account for speech and performance events being nested within both points and individuals over time throughout a tennis match. In the current study, 28 youth tennis players (Mage = 12 years) were observed, and their speech and performance coded with the Self-Talk and Gestures Rating Scale. The relation between self-talk and performance was measured on the same point (K), as well as on the subsequent point (K+1). Bivariate (non-nested) analyses supported a concurrent, but not a predictive relation between self-talk and performance, consistent with prior work. With multivariate, hierarchical linear modeling that accounts for total points played in a set within person, and player behavior on the prior point, we found that positive and negative self-talk were strongly related to concurrent point performance, and to a less extent, to subsequent K+1 point performance. The occurrence of positive self-talk on point K appeared to increase the odds of winning the subsequent point compared to when positive self-talk talk did not appear, but the margin was small. Researchers should continue to observe self-talk in athletes, as well as examine multilevel speech-to-performance associations, especially when data are gathered within naturalistic settings in real time. © 202